Sahara

Theatrical Release Date: 2005 04 08 (USA)

UPC: 097363418146

Studio: Paramount

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Violence]

Summary: Matthew McConaughey stars as explorer and adventurer Dirk Pitt in this adaptation of the best-selling novel by Clive Cussler. Pitt thinks he may have found both a fortune and the answer to a long-standing mystery when he discovers a rare coin in the waters of a river in West Africa. During the Civil War, an ironclad battleship with a valuable cargo went missing, and Pitt's theory is that the coin places the ship somewhere in the Sahara Desert. Pitt and his goofy sidekick, Al Giordino (Steve Zahn), set out to find it, but along the way they make the acquaintance of Dr. Eva Rojas (Pen?lope Cruz), a scientist and physician who is trying to determine the source of a strange and deadly disease sweeping the nation. As Eva joins Dirk and Al, they begin to wonder if the mysteries they're trying to uncover might be somehow linked. Sahara was only the second of Cussler's Dirk Pitt adventures to be adapted for the screen; the first, 1980's Raise the Titanic, was publicly dismissed by the author. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Adventure

Features: ccCommentaries by director Breck Eisner and actor/executive producer Matthew McConaughey
3 featurettes: Across the Sands of Sahara/Visualizing Sahara/Cast and crew wrap film
Deleted scenes (with optional audio commentary)
Widescreen version enhanced for 16:9 TV's
Dolby Digital: English 5.1 and 2.0 surround/French 2.0 surround
English subtitles
Spanish subtitles

Sahara

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 08/30/2005

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DDS2.0 Dolby Digital w/ 4 channels

Runtime: 123 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- Sahara [WS]
1. The Last Ironclad [7:26]
2. Outbreak [:23]
3. Underworld Contact [4:13]
4. Boat Trip [7:56]
5. Ship of Death [7:53]
6. Panama [7:45]
7. The Well [:23]
8. General Kazim Questions Frank [6:40]
9. Tuareg Country [3:19]
10. It's Not a Plague [4:22]
11. Decision-Making Paradigm [2:10]
12. Source [5:56]
13. We're Home Free Now [:21]
14. Another Idea [5:56]
15. Cover [2:07]
16. Cut The Head Off The Snake [3:51]
17. The Fearless Crew [:07]

Jeremy Wheeler

Much of Sahara plays out in such a breezy, entertaining manner that you feel guilty for ragging on it, even if it misses its marks repeatedly through the film. Heavily mining the Indiana Jones School of Adventure Filmmaking, first-time director Breck Eisner (yes, the son of the Mouse House power player Michael Eisner) paints a pretty picture of exotic locales and thrilling sequences but never quite gets the magic to work with his cast. The banter between Matthew McConaughey and Steve Zahn doesn't click in a satisfying way, while Pen?lope Cruz fails to light the romantic spark of the flick no matter how hard she tries. McConaughey has the stuff to make a fine hero, but his Dirk Pitt needs more definition in both his charm and heroics. With four writers attached to the screenplay, it's obvious that the adaptation of Clive Cussler's novel went through more than its share of Hollywood potholes throughout the production. Still, with little digital trickery to sour its traditional aesthetics, Sahara does prove to be a competent cut of entertainment that's safe for the masses to buy into. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Dayna Cussler  Actor 
Karen Baldwin  Producer 
Stephanie Austin  Producer 
Howard Baldwin  Producer 
Jim V. Hart  Screenwriter 
Mace Neufeld  Producer 
Matthew McConaughey  Executive Producer 
Clint Mansell  Composer (Music Score) 
Vicki Dee Rock  Executive Producer 
William J. Immerman  Executive Producer 
Thomas Dean Donnelly  Screenwriter 
Joshua Oppenheimer  Screenwriter 
Breck Eisner  Director 
Gus Gustawes  Executive Producer 
John C. Richards  Screenwriter 
Matthew McConaughey  Actor 
Steve Zahn  Actor 
Penélope Cruz  Actor 
Lambert Wilson  Actor 
Glynn Turman  Actor 
Delroy Lindo  Actor 
William H. Macy  Actor 
Lennie James  Actor 
Rainn Wilson  Actor 

Country: USA